This
traveling exhibit, which surveys American maritime- and
water-themed painting from 1828 to 1945, makes its first
stop at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie. Drawn from the
collections of Arthur J. Phelan, the “underlying theme of
the exhibition reflects changes in American attitudes toward
our most important resource—from the endless supply of water
and land the first settlers found . . . to the popularity
of second homes and beaches and the change in port facilities
from picturesque to industrial in the 20th century.”

Artists featured in the show include James Bard, Anton Otto
Fischer, Charles M. McIllhenney, Edward Percy Moran and
the great Reginald Marsh, whose Lift Bridge, Jersey Marshes
(1936) is pictured here.

Reflections
on Water in American Painting opens Saturday (June 19)
and runs through Oct. 3 at the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie
(2 Erie Blvd., Canajoharie). For more info, visit arkellmuseum.org
or call 673-2314.

Skinless,
Burning Human

Whatever
you do, wear your sunscreen!

This extra-special one-off bill reads like a cautionary
poster at a dermatologist’s office. And it’s alright to
be afraid—in fact, it’s mandatory. Seminal Albany death-metal
band and brutal force of the ’90s Troycore scene, Skinless,
are getting back together.

Ever since Regression Toward Evil in 1998, Skinless
(pictured) have “helped rearrange the face of death metal”
with viscously pessimistic lyrics, club-enhanced mosh pits,
and shamelessly misogynistic stagecraft. And, considering
that the group formed from the remains of a band called
Skinless Butt Portions, there’s plenty of comedy in there
too. Saturday’s show will feature all original members.

To do this thing right, the band have invited fellow Troy
death-metal act Burning Human—featuring Shadows Fall drummer
Jason Bittner—to share the headline. The band continue to
tour on their appropriately flammable 2009 album Resurrection
By Fire. Rounding out the night will be Wasteform, Israfel
and the Harrowing.

She
was a groundbreaking dramatist—Virginia Woolf later wrote
that all women writers owe her a debt—and a fierce Tory;
she was a gender-bending spy who thrived in the hurly-burly
of England’s Restoration period. She was Aphra Behn, and
the subject of the rollicking play Or, currently
being presented at Stageworks/Hudson.

Playwright Liz Duffy Adams found herself fascinated by Behn
and read her collective works a few years ago, intrigued
by Behn’s “genius for reinventing the world around her instead
of adapting herself to it.”

The resulting play, which had a well-received run off-off-Broadway,
is a “Restoration bodice ripper,” with generous helpings
of free love, cross-dressing and “general ribaldry.” It’s
social revolution, with the feminist heroine squaring off
against condescending aristocrats and scheming guttersnipes.

Or,
is being performed now through July 4 at Stageworks/Hudson
(41 Cross St., Hudson). Tickets are $13-$29. Performances
are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 PM, Friday and Saturday
at 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. For reservations and information,
visit stageworkshudson.org or call 828-7843.